The operation targeted a wanted Taliban commander and took place in the province’s Mehtar Lam district, northeast of Kabul. As coalition forces approached the militant leader’s compound, several armed insurgents emerged, and a firefight ensued. Nine militants were killed by coalition troops’ fire during the gun battle and four other Taliban fighters were dispatched by coalition air-to-ground support.

Shortly afterward, the coalition force again was engaged by armed militants firing from inside some buildings. Coalition forces killed two more militants in the firefight. A search of the area yielded AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, RPG rounds, a hand grenade, ammunition and other military equipment.